Content
- Characters of goats
- Curiosities about goats
- Goats on the roof
- Goats in the tree
- How goats climb the tree
- Goats on top of the tree: controversy
Have you ever seen goats on top of a tree? Photos taken in Morocco began to attract the attention of the entire planet a few years ago and to this day they generate a lot controversy and doubts. Can these animals really climb a tree?
In this article by Animal Expert, goats in the tree: myths and truths, you will get to know this story better, as well as the characteristics of goats and finally unravel this mystery of the so-called "crowbar". Good reading.
Characters of goats
A docile and fragile looking animal. But those who believe in the goat's weakness are wrong. Extremely resistant, it has the ability to adapt to different environments, from snowy regions to deserts.
The goat, whose scientific name is capra aegagrus hircus, it is a herbivorous mammal, that is, it has an exclusively vegetable diet. The male of the goat is the goat and the calf is the goat.
A member of the genus Capra, of the bovine family, the goat has little horns and ears, unlike the male goat, with its sharp horns and short coat.
It is a ruminant animal, and, therefore, its digestion takes place in two stages: in the first, the goat chews its food and then begins its digestion. However, before the completion of this process, she regurgitate the food to restart chewing by adding saliva.
Its natural habitat is mountains, in temperate zones. However, goats arrived in Brazil at the time of colonization through the Portuguese, Dutch and French and currently the region with the largest number of these animals is the Northeast, mainly Ceará, Pernambuco, Bahia and Piauí.
Curiosities about goats
- Goats' gestation lasts about five months
- Its weight ranges from 45 to 70 kilos as an adult
- The collective of goats is herd or fact
- Its meat and milk are low in fat.
- They live, on average, 20 years
- The sound that goats make is called "bleating"
Goats on the roof
You've probably seen goats on top of mountains, right? In photos, videos or even in person. After all, mountains are the natural habitat of wild goats. AND goat on the roof? Yes, this has happened a few times, including in the municipality of Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, in the state of São Paulo (see photo below).[1]
In Europe, more precisely in Italy, wild goats have already appeared climbing a 50 meter high wall on Lake Cingino. They were looking for salts, mosses and flowers to feed on. In North America, the antelope goats, in addition to climbing, are able to give jumps over three meters away.
Goats in the tree
In 2012, a tree located near the town of Essaouira, on the southwest coast of Morocco, gained worldwide fame as a "crowbar". And no wonder: in addition to numerous photos shared at the beginning of the boom in social networks in the world, videos proved that there were indeed several goats on top of the tree.[2]
The phenomenon, curious, caught the attention of experts and journalists around the planet. The question is: a goat can climb a tree? And the answer to this question is yes. And this tree strong enough to support the weight of several goats, and which became famous, is the argan or argan, in Portuguese. In addition to having twisted branches, it produces a fruit similar to a wrinkled olive that gives off a very attractive scent for animals.
How goats climb the tree
Goats naturally have the ability to jump and climb and, in Morocco, as in other regions of the world, they do it mainly to search for food. After all, they can climb trees by survival instinct in a desert region where the soil provides virtually no food option for them.
Considered light animals, goats do not accumulate fat and are very agile. In addition, they have a different anatomy in their small legs, with a division that resembles two fingers, which facilitates their mobility in different terrains and surfaces and, of course, even through branches of a tree. They are also able to eat supported by only two legs, which facilitates their feeding of leaves from the trees without necessarily needing to climb on top of them.
Some experts believe that goats climb trees also because of their intelligence, as they know that fresh leaves have more nutrients than dry leaves found on the ground.
In Brazil, as most of these animals are raised in lockdown, it is much more difficult to find goats that climb trees, as they usually do not need to go out for food.
Goats on top of the tree: controversy
Once considered a routine scene for the population in certain regions of Morocco, the wide spread of such a crowbar a few years ago began to attract a large number of tourists from all over the world. Unfortunately, according to an allegation made by nature photographer Aaron Gekoski, local farmers, in order to profit from the goats in the tree, began to manipulate the situation.
According to the photographer, some farmers built platforms in the trees and began to persuade the animals to climb them, where they are even tied up to remain there for hours. When the animals are visibly tired, they would trade them for other goats. And why do this? Because they charge tourists for every photo taken.
The complaint was published by numerous newspapers in 2019, such as the The Mirror[3] it's the The Telegraph[4], in the United Kingdom, and several Brazilian media. So even if goats climb naturally and can move through trees, many are forced by farmers to remain in the same place under the strong sun, tired and without water, causing stress and suffering to the animals.
According to the international NGO World Animal Protection, an organization that defends the rights of animals, people should be careful with trips and trips to places they exploit animals in tourist attractions, as this type of tourism can encourage mistreatment negatively affecting different species.
If you want to read more articles similar to Goats in the tree: myths and truths, we recommend that you enter our Curiosities section of the animal world.